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The Consequences of Somali Piracy on International Trade Global Tides Volume 8 Article 5 2014 The Consequences of Somali Piracy on International Trade La'Nita M. Johnson Pepperdine University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/globaltides Part of the International Business Commons Recommended Citation Johnson, La'Nita M. (2014) "The Consequences of Somali Piracy on International Trade," Global Tides: Vol. 8 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/globaltides/vol8/iss1/5 This International Studies and Languages is brought to you for free and open access by the Seaver College at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Global Tides by an authorized editor of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. The Consequences of Somali Piracy on International Trade Cover Page Footnote This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for- profit sectors. This international studies and languages is available in Global Tides: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/ globaltides/vol8/iss1/5 Johnson: Consequences of Somali Piracy Introduction While pirates have been the subject of numerous movies, books and plays—from Robert Louis Stevenson’s timeless novel, Treasure Island, written in 1883; to the classic Disney movie of the same title produced in 1950; to the recently released “based-on-a-true story” film, Captain Phillips—the matter is hardly fictional. With almost 1,200 prisoners taken captive by pirates from 2010 to 2011 and over 100 casualties in 2011 alone, it is evident that Somali piracy has made an impeccable return in the twenty-first century.1 For millennia, actually dating back as early as 75 B.C., when Julius Caesar found his life interrupted by a Sicilian piracy attack, pirates have plagued the sea, violently attacking seafarers and greatly affecting transoceanic trade.2 Authors Homer and Cicero noted incidents “involving ancient Greek and Roman mariners” and Western Europeans weathered Viking attacks during the Middle Ages. 3 However, the most notorious onslaughts occurred during the Golden Age of Piracy (which spanned from 1570 to 1730). During this era, countries such as Britain, France, and the United States, hired privateers to harass Spanish fleets because of their frustration with Spanish dominance of the Caribbean.4 As Spain continued to conquer and colonize the Americas, privateers quickly recognized the vast presence of silver, gold, spices, and exotic goods aboard ships. Thus, the harassment that privateers were commissioned for quickly made a transition to lucrative pirate missions of travelling the sea for capital gains. Due to enhanced onshore military surveillance during the 18th century, the number of pirate attacks decreased sharply and the Golden Age of Piracy came to an end. Additionally, the invention of the steam engine provided an alternative mode of transportation that would mitigate travel by sea. With fewer boats journeying through international waters, nations cut their naval patrol and began investing money in new technologies. However, decades later, as international trade increased following the Cold War, individuals soon began to recognize the 1 Peter Apps, “Somali Piracy Death Toll Rises as Violence Worsens,” Reuters, last modified June 22, 2012, accessed February 22, 2014, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/22/us-somalia- piracy-idUSBRE85L08N20120622. 2 Robert Schlesinger, “Dealing with Pirates: How Julius Caesar Handled Things,” U.S. News and World Report, last modified April 13, 2009, accessed November 9, 2013, http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/robert-schlesinger/2009/04/13/dealing-with-pirates-how- julius-caesar-handled-things. 3 Alex Altman, “A Brief History of Pirates,” TIME World, October 2, 2008, accessed November 9, 2013, http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1846422,00.html. 4 Virginia Lunsford, “What Makes Piracy Work?” Proceedings Magazine 12 (2008): 1270, accessed November 4, 2013, http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2008-12/what-makes- piracy-work. Published by Pepperdine Digital Commons, 2014 1 Global Tides, Vol. 8 [2014], Art. 5 opportunities for capital gain through sea robbing.5 Thus, a form of crime that many believed to be long dead has reappeared in the 21st century, causing immense and costly problems to global trade and countries around the world. In the last decade in particular, piracy in the African waters, especially surrounding Somalia, has vastly increased. According to statistics supplied by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the 219 attacks by Somali pirates in 2010 made up 49 percent of the total piracy attacks worldwide. In that same year, Somali pirates hijacked 49 ships, while taking 1,016 seafarers hostage. However, pirates never intend to harm their hostages, as their ultimate goal is always seeking financial compensation. The One Earth Future Foundation (OEF) approximates that the total ransom paid to Somali pirates reached $238 million in just 2010 alone.6 A new study estimates that Somali pirates reaped as much as $413 million in ransom payments from 154 hijackings from 2005 to 2012.7 The expansion of Somali piracy has caused immense amounts of harm on the global trade market. It is estimated that the losses suffered globally range from $1 billion to over $16 billion per year.8 Within this figure, only a small amount is attributed to direct costs, such as paying ransom. The larger part of that figure comes from indirect costs, such as delays/failure in delivering cargo (breach of contract), reduction in the value of goods, or the extension of the ship rental and staff salary. Additionally, piracy affects the willingness of seafarers to sail on high-risk routes (e.g. the Gulf of Aden in the Horn of Africa). Thus, many companies are battling the reality of staff refusing work. Effects such as these ultimately cause financially detrimental consequences to companies. For example, hijacked ships result in transportation delay, which ultimately leads to higher fuel cost, increased wages for workers, and diminishes a company’s competitiveness. Lastly, the threat of hijackings has coerced many shipping companies and ship- owners to purchase more expensive insurance packages. Because of incidences of piracy, many insurance companies now require a specific “kidnap and ransom” policy, which can cover the cost of ransom and the arrangements required with the payment.9 As studies show that the economic impacts of piracy are at an all-time high, this paper will argue that the Somali pirates who infest the waters off the 5 Altman, “A Brief History of Pirates.” 6 Henk Rengelink, “Tackling Somali Piracy,” Trends in Organized Crime 3 (2012): 180-97, accessed November 1, 2013, doi 10.1007/s12117-012-9171-3, 182-83. 7 The World Bank, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and Interpol, Pirate Trails: Tracking the Illicit Financial Flows from Pirate Activities off the Horn of Africa, Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2013, accessed November 8, 2013, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/16196. 8 Rengelink, “Tackling Somali Piracy,” 185. 9 Ibid., 185-86. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/globaltides/vol8/iss1/5 2 Johnson: Consequences of Somali Piracy Horn of Africa are causing significant financial damage to international commerce by elevating global trade costs. Rise of Piracy in Somalia Due to a previous civil war, absence of central government, and lack of natural resources, Somalia is presently one of the most underdeveloped and chaotic countries in the world. It is widely believed that the inability to restore a functioning government is the direct cause behind Somalia’s security problems and ruined economy.10 Because of Somalia’s poor economic circumstances, many individuals who are dissatisfied with the status quo seek unconventional ways to improve their respective financial circumstances by any means possible. The poor socioeconomic situation in the country paired with Somali citizens’ desperation to alter their living conditions are the large stimuli in the rise and expansion of piracy throughout international waters. After the civil war, the country was left in mayhem with no formal parliament for more than two decades.11 With anarchy spreading for years, it was imperative to come up with a temporary solution for the well-being of the country. Thus, in 2000, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was formed after fourteen attempts to create a functioning government post-civil war. Although Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is the current president of Somalia and represents the semi-success of the TFG, the party still lacks cohesion and control of the entire country. 12 Particularly, the lawlessness has allowed Somali pirates to advance their activities with protection of anarchist clans, and most recently the Jihad militia Al-Shabaab that controls the Southern part of the country. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), while Somali pirates only initially operated in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean (within the vicinity of their native country), the additional support they have gained has helped extend their range as far away as 1200 sea miles from the capital of Mogadishu.13 Contrary to popular belief, Somali piracy did not begin initially out of the desire to exploit the vulnerabilities of their failed, lawless state. Some of the first low-scale pirate attacks carried out in the Horn of Africa acted as measures to counter illegal fishing in Somali waters. After a civil war erupted in the country in 10 Christopher L Daniels, Somali Piracy and Terrorism in the Horn of Africa (Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2012), 1. 11 BBC Monitoring, “News Africa,” BBC News, last modified July 4, 2013, accessed November 10, 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14094503. 12 Stephanie Hanson and Eben Kaplan, “Somalia's Transitional Government,” Council on Foreign Relations, last modified May 12, 2008, accessed November 10, 2013, http://www.cfr.org/somalia/somalias-transitional-government/p12475.
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